This week’s
gospel acclamation is Matthew 5:3
Happy the poor
in Spirit, the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
I am so excited for January as we will be exploring the
beatitudes.
Is it the quantity or the quality? How much do we put in? How
much do we give back? I don’t want to talk about money, I am meaning more how
much of us do we put in like the hokey pokey do we put our whole self in and
shake it all about for God or are we only putting in a tiny portion of
ourselves and giving back what we assume is enough for God. The Good News is he
wants all of who we are as individuals and a community we all put in an effort
and God knows that some may contribute much more and that is great, but no one
should ever feel bad or feel guilty we give what we can and put in what we can
whether that is our whole self or a tiny portion of who we are.
This week we hear about the poor widow who put in more than
all who contributed something that has been on my mind this week and I was
reminded yesterday morning, whose faith are we measuring up to? First, faith-
is believing in someone or something, placing trust or confidence in someone or
something for example faith in God, faith in your doctor, faith in your hairdresser.
I would like to hope I measure up to the faith I receive from God unfortunately
these days it’s hard not to compare and you do feel as though you must measure
up to the faith of others if you want to belong to the click or the popular
group. Here is the thing though, I don’t want to measure up to anybody else I
finally understand the relationship between what I put in and what I receive
from God. Here are two verses that may help us to understand further.
Romans 12:3-6
In the light of
the grace, I have received I want to urge each one among you not to exaggerate
his real importance. Each of you must judge himself/herself soberly by the
standard of the faith God has given him/her. Just as each of our bodies has
several parts and each part has a separate function, so all of us in union with
Christ, form one body, and as parts of it we belong to each other. Our gifts
differ according to the grace given us. If your gift is prophecy, then use it
as your faith suggest.
1Corinthians
12:27-30
Now you together
are Christ’s body; but each of you is a different part of it. In the Church,
God has given the first place to apostles, the second to prophets, the third to
teachers; after them, miracles, and after them the gift of healing; helpers,
good leaders, those with many languages. Are all of them apostles, or all of
them prophets, or all of them teachers? Do they all have the gift of miracles,
or all have the gift of healing? Do all speak strange languages and interpret
them?
These verses sum up that we are all different, we all have
different gifts while we all belong to the One Body of Christ and so I guess
what I am saying is we shouldn’t judge rather judge our own lives, we shouldn’t
compare, and we shouldn’t separate or throw out what god is measuring out to
the world or a community of people who believe in Jesus Christ. The widow is an
example of someone who has a generous heart, someone who puts all that she has
into loving God and uses her gifts as her faith suggests.
Can we Women of Faith and Hope use our gifs as our faith
suggests?
Last night I went to a retreat, and I came to the realization
that I must have acceptance for the things and people I cannot change, and I
felt as though God was saying Katie do you willfully accept my proposal? After
starring at an image of Mary on the front of a booklet and my answer is yes, I accept,
and I will put in all that I have because the world needs people to be like
Jesus loving, open, kind, compassionate, respectful, forgiving, and merciful. I
feel the world is stressed, frustrated and angry and all it takes is for us to
be there in the present moment listening, acknowledging, and giving a dam about
another human being. To me the widow lived a simple life loving God and as I
said before she put in all she had.
Will you put in all of who you are?
May God Bless Always, Women of Faith and Hope.
Written and created by My Mother Rose.
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